Solid waste management in urban fringe settlements : the case of Winterveld, Pretoria

Governments and municipalities in the developing world face the challenge of rapid environmental deterioration in the growing informal settlements along the urban fringes. Waste management, its efficiency, or lack thereof, is becoming an increasingly urgent issue. In this thesis, Winterveld, located approx. 50 km north of Pretoria, is studied as a typical example of the problems and bottlenecks related to solid domestic waste management in a mixed urban fringe settlement. While the formal parts of Winterveld receive waste removal services, the – much larger - informal parts are not being provided with such services. A wide range of methodologies was employed to assess the current status of waste management and related environmental problems. Policies and actual service delivery by the City of Tshwane, responsible for providing waste removal service to the area, were investigated; surveys were conducted among waste removal contractors in and around Winterveld, and the residents from both formal and informal settlements. Field surveys were conducted to identify environmental problems on site, dumping sites and their change over time were mapped and digitized on orthophotos. Vegetation surveys complemented the fieldwork, as illegal dumping sites often are masked by vegetation. The following aspects were investigated: 1) the efficiency of governmental and municipal efforts regarding waste removal in informal Winterveld; 2) environmental and health problems caused by improper handling of waste; 3) the residents' attitudes towards waste management; 4) possible solutions to the problems. The findings revealed that Winterveld is not an exception from other informal settlements with regards to waste management. People are of the opinion that waste management is the sole responsibility of the government thus the residents are doing little to improve their own area. Government initiatives which include provision of facilities for waste management are misused and vandalised by the residents. Dumping along the roads, according to some residents is used as a call to the government to attract attention that the residents need removal services. The initiatives by the municipality should ensure that solid waste management facilities are socially acceptable and environmentally and economically sound. It is therefore very important to involve the community when investigate technologies that will benefit the economy and the environment maximally. Informing people may encourage them to change their negative attitudes by making them feel as an important part of waste management, this will eventually compel them to cooperate and play a positive role in waste management. Until such time that they change their attitudes, there is little hope that they will appreciate and protect the facilities provided.